My wife and I love having the Gap Year students around. From a polo point of view, they’re eager to learn and improve their play. The growth in their game over a couple of months can be phenomenal.

From a personal point of view, it’s great to see them settle into our home, quickly meet new friends, and begin to grow as people.

The polo school is just 15 minutes outside Christchurch, a city of 300,000 people. Christchurch is the hub of the South Island, offering a wide variety of services, entertainment, and nightlife.

During the New Zealand summer, the country is full of like-minded young people intent on exploring our slice of the world. New Zealand is a friendly, safe country, with a low crime rate, and free of the unrest that has plagued some parts of the globe.

The Gap season runs from about September, at the start of spring. Polo is played right through the summer, until about April. Placements are typically from one to two months. Gap Year students will get:

Bess, Gala, Michael with Foxy, Champion Pony of the Tournament, during their stay.

Gap Year Polo students will find New Zealand to be the perfect destination. Not only can we offer world-class polo tuition, and chukkas and games, but right at our backdoor is an adventure playground offering almost every kind of entertainment possible.

Your trip to New Zealand during your gap year would not be complete without seeing some of the country – and there’s a lot to see.

Where else can you play polo in the morning, and then leap off a bridge in the afternoon? Maybe bungy jumping isn’t your thing … don’t worry – there’s plenty more to see and do!

Testimonials from Gap Year students

“Thank-you for opening your house to Thandi and I and for providing the most amazing horses and just generally for doing everything that you did for me. Hopefully we’ll win the Open when I come back … that would be great!”

-Gala Rowe-Setz

“Thank you again for a fabulous 12 days or so living, breathing, and playing polo. Just what I needed. I could not believe how well I was hitting the ball … my all round general play has improved out of sight.”

-Gus Booth, Australia

“You’ve increased my confidence on the field and given me the chance to play great polo. The horses have all been fab and you have such a wonderful setup … it has been the perfect start to my GAP year.”

-Amy Bletsoe-Brown, England

“I have learnt such a lot, not just about horses and polo, but also many valuable lessons in life. I am in denial that I am actually leaving.”

-Sarah Nicholson, England

Ed and Bess share a laugh.

"Let other people play at other things. The king of games is still the game of kings."

- verse inscribed in stone next to a polo field in Gilgit, north of Kashmir, near the fabled silk route from China to the West.

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